Roller stippler



y 3 A. T. ADAMS 8 2,087,888

ROLLER STIPPLER Filed Aug. 5) 1935 Patented 'July 27, 1937 I UNITED"STATES PATENT ori-"ios aosmss aowm STIPPLEB Arthnr 'l. Adams, on.l'al'k, nl. Application August 5, 1935, Serial No. 34,117

1 Claim. (oi. sl--5.5l

The present invention relates to a stippling device and moreparticularly for use in removinfl brush lines from freshly paintedsurfaces.

In the decoration of interior surfaces, such as 5 wells and ceilings inbuildings and homes, it is often desirable to stipple the freshlypainted surfaces in order to remove brush marks and smears that give anunsightly appearance to the completed work.- For this purposeheretofore, decorators have used a flat brush in various sizes havingoutwardly flared bristles.

the brush marks and leaving a dappled or spotted surface in its place.

This pounding method of stippling is used exclusively today bydecorators in so far as applicant is aware. 'It is a slow method of workand uncleanly as in stippling adjacent wall boards, door casings andpicture molds, the bristles come in contact with the woodwork causingpaint smears and marks which must be cleaned up after the stippling iscompleted. No matter how accurate the worker may be this smearinglSbOllIld to occur with this pounding stippler. A further disadvantageis the fact that the bristles absorb the paint as does the ordinarypaint brush tending to cause the bristles to stick together and making asplotchy surface unless the brush is frequently cleaned. Many years agoa revolving brush was suggested having long flexible bristles extendingradially from a central core. Experiments with this type of brush showthat it has the some disadvantages as the poundlngistippler. Theflexible bristles spatter or kick the paint picked up by the bristleends, smearing the'woodwork around which the stippling is being done.v'Illhe bristles tend to stick together causing the roller to slide,smearing the painted wall. This type of brush must also be cleanedfrequently to prevent sticking of the bristles and the paint solventsand cleaning materials used for this purpose tend to break down thebristles. As these bristle brushes are expensive, the use of them addsconsiderable to 45 the cost of the work. Moreover, continuous poundingwith the flat type of brush frequently opens cracks in the plaster thatmust be repaired. Various kinds of rotary bristle brushes have beentried. Short bristles or bristles placed in a 50 straight linetend toslide over the surface smearing the paint. Since plaster walls containirregularities and slight depressions the short bristled brushfrequently rolls over spots without touching or stippling them causingshiners and giving 55 the finished wall a dull app arance, Brushes Thisbrush was pounded against the painted surface removin of the rotarybristle type have been used i'or graining metal surfaces in imitation ofwood where a surface entirely different from a stippled hm? isdesiredand may be satisfactory for this wor i A principal object oi thisinvention is to provide a stippler that is inexpensive to manufacture,is durable and one that may be renewed or easily cleaned as desired.

Another object of this invention is to provide 10 a stippler that willtend not to absorb paint and will not smear the painted surface norspatter at on adjacent woodwork.

A further object of this invention is to provide a stippler that willstlpple uneven surfaces 15 and will save time and labor in per! thestippling operation.

Still other and further objects of my invention will be pointed out orindicated hereinafter or will be ant to one skilled in the art upon 20an understanding of the invention or its employment in practice. c

For aiding in the disclosure oi the invention, there is shown in theaccompany n drawing, forming a part of this speciilcation certain ar- 25rangernents of mechanism by reference to which "the device isdescrlbed.' It is to be that this description and dra are ented forpurpose of illustration only and are not to be construed so as to limitthe scope of the ap- 3o pended claim unnecessarily.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a plan view of a roller stippler em.- bodying the presentinvention: and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the roller 35 stippler taken on theline 2-2 of, Fig. l.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention a cylindrical wooden ormetal roller is used. This roller may be hollow i'or lightness ifdesired and in this case disks or end members are used for so thepurpose of journaiing the roller within an operating handle. Over therolleris'positioned a material having the characteristics of short finehairs or napextending outwardly from a resilient body portion andforming a nap that apparently repels paint relative to normal brushbristles. When rotated over a plaster surface for 1 a stipplingoperation the resilient body portion,

under slight pressure, will permit the nap to enter depressions formedin the surface and prevent the possibility of shiners or a dullappearance to the finished wall. At the same time, the shortness andsoftness of the nap will prevent a skidding or smearing action of thestippier and its softness will do away with the normal tendency spatterpaint over adjacent woodwork or the operator.

With reference to the embodiment shown in the drawing, the stipplerincludes a roller member l journaled at either end in a bifurcatedsupporting frame l2. An operating handle l4 extends outwardly from theframe l2 and may be rounded or otherwise formed to fit an operator'shand.

Over the roller member I0 is positioned a stip- I pllng means l6. Thismaybe fastened tothe roller in any suitable manner but preferably isremovably aflixed thereto for the purposes hereinafter set forth.

The stippling means I6 preferably comprises a resilient or deformablebase portion I! having outwardly extending flexible nap or closely as--sociated hairs l8 that meet with and stipple the freshly painted walls.When this material is applied to the roller, the roller itself acts as afirm support behind the stippling means to give the proper amount ofpressure and to prevent a skidding or sliding of the stippler such'aswould be probable if only the nap surface as in the use of a bristlebrush.

For this stippling means a carpeted material has been found to meet therequirements necessary for practical stippling. A carpet of the Brusselstype affords a sufficiently soft base to permit the stippler to followimperfections in the wall surface. Its short, soft, heavy nap will notabsorb paint rapidly nor spatter the paint during a ,rolling operation.

Care should be taken in attaching the stippling cover member IE to theroller l0. A careless attachment will leave marks upon the walls whichwill be repeated at regular intervals depending upon the length oftravel of the roller over the wall. If the roller is wooden, smallheaded, fine tacks 20 may be used adjacent the meeting edges of thecovering material. These tacks should be countersunk within the baseportion. I! of the covering so that the hop l8 will extend up around andover the tack heads concealing and enclosing the same. An adhesive maybe applied to the itself engaged the wall 1 roller and the coveringmaterial carefully laid on over that so that the ends thereof are injuxtaposition and held fast in that position. A further method ofattachment may be by sewing the two ends of the covering materialtogether to form a seam 22 beneath the nap I 8. The last two attachmentsmay be used on wooden or metal roll- The cover may be easily removed andreplaced by using any of these attaching means.

.At the end of a days operation, or when saturated, the stippling meansI 6 may be removed from the roller member ID and thrown away in the caseof Brussels carpet, as the expense of the material is slight, and a newpiece of material may be placed thereon for further use. This coveringmay be easily and quickly washed, however, and used many times. over.Various grades of coarse and fine. stippling may be done merely byvarying and changing the grades of stippling or covering material.

Preferably the covering material l6 terminates evenly with the ends ofthe roller member l0 and the nap I8 is carried out to the edge of thebase portion II. By forming the 'stippler in this manner it is possibleto roll around door casings, baseboards and other framework withoutsmearing them with paint.

For the purpose of exemplification,- one embodiment has been set forthherein. Structural modifications are possible without departing from thespirit of the invention. All such modifications are intended to comewithin the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In a roller for stippling walls, a hollow cylindrical body portion,disk-like end members closing the ends ,of said body portion, abifurcated supporting frame journaled in said end members, a carpetedmaterial including a resilient base portion'having a short relativelypaintaepellent nap mounted on said body portion with its edges inmeeting relationship, said edges being attached together and to saidbody portion through said base portion and beneath said nap.

ARTHUR T. ADAMS.

